More than 150 children and their parents attended the annual event and enjoyed face painting, free hot dogs, prizes and of course learning more about archery.

Each child who attended was registered for one of many door prizes and also took home his very own long bow made by David Chronister. The long bows were made from rattan and sized accordingly to each child, so even the youngest participants could enjoy archery.

“That’s what it’s about for me,” Chronister said of why he made more than 220 bows. “I enjoy passing on a love for archery, not just hunting, to the younger generation.”

The children decorated their bows and then had fun at one of three target practice stations set up. For many of the area youth, BowJam was their first experience with archery.

Maggie Spillane, 7, of Russellville and her mother, Sally Spillane, both said they enjoyed the event and both had good luck hitting a target.

“It’s hard,” Maggie Spillane said of hitting a target. “My mom did it and I hit a hog target. I can’t wait to come back next year.”

Maggie’s mom echoed her daughter’s excitement.

“I’ve had a great time,’ Sally Spillane said. “The weather is beautiful and I’ve really been impressed by how concerned all the volunteers have been about safety. They’ve taken the time to show the kids how to load the bow and about proper safety procedures. I’ve enjoyed myself. I shot the target on the third try.”

Volunteers from the Friends of Holla Bend NWR cooked hot dogs, passed out water and stayed at each target station to instruct the participants about proper archery practices.

Chris Kellner, a friend of Holla Bend, manned the station with the younger participants.

“We are really trying to keep everyone safe,” Kellner said. “We want to teach everyone how to properly use their bows so they don’t just treat them like toys.”

Kellner and other volunteers instructed the children to be sure to aim arrows down when they were loading the bow to prevent any accidental injuries from arrows released early, to wait to retrieve arrows until everyone was done and not to point their bows or arrows at others.

Carla Mitchell, manager for HBNWR, said the success of the event was owed to the many volunteers that worked hard to ensure the children had a good time.

“We had great weather today,” Mitchell said. “The Friends of Holla Bend worked hard to make this a big event this year. Just looking around at the children and their parents having fun lets me know it was a success. Holla Bend is blessed to have so much community support.”

Simmons First Bank donated water, Friends of Holla Bend cooked hot dogs and volunteered at various activities and students from Arkansas Tech University volunteered assisted the children at the archery stations.